


In The Cold

by InterstellarVagabond



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2018-12-17 09:49:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 8,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11849055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterstellarVagabond/pseuds/InterstellarVagabond
Summary: In this reality, it was the paladins of Voltron that were frozen for thousands of years. Many believe that Voltron is nothing but a child's fairy tale, but Allura of Altea has never given up hope. When Zarkon lays siege to her planet in his endless search for his ancient enemy, her father is captured and Allura escapes only with Coran. While they flee they come across the fabled black lion of Voltron, and a myth becomes reality as they search for the other paladins and take the fight to Zarkon.PLEASE READ: this story has been adopted by buzzybee10 I will no longer be updating it here, please find all future updates at their page for more information see most recent chapter





	1. Chapter 1

The sound of sirens was overwhelming. The whole planet shook beneath Allura’s feet as she raced to the escape ships. 

“Father, our only hope is to find Voltron!” she shouted over the sound of Galra invasion.

“Allura, please, just keep running,” Alfor said, pulling his daughter along by her wrist. Allura pursed her lips. She was used to these reactions. People changing the subject, laughing, telling her to stop believing in childish fairy tales. But what else could Zarkon be looking for in his endless search of the galaxy? 

The legends said that Voltron was an ancient altean creation, denied to Zarkon when the black lion refused him. The lions were instead given to the people of Earth, who suffered death from Zarkon’s jealousy. The galra had lived for thousands of years, what else could keep him alive but the desire for Voltron?

Coran stumbled and would have fallen if Allura had not thrown out a hand to steady him. They made it to a ship, just in time for a galra drop ship to come burrowing through the bay walls. The doors opened and hundreds of galra soldiers dismounted, shooting down alteans without mercy. 

“Coran, take Allura and run. Run to the farthest edges of the galaxy. She’s Altea’s only hope.” Alfor said.

“But what about you?” Coran grapsed Alfor’s shoulders desperately. 

“I cannot leave my people.” Alfor looked back at the alteans that were fighting their hardest. “Take her and go! That’s an order from your king!”

“Father I won’t leave you!” Allura said. 

“I know you won’t,” Alfor sighed with a soft sad smile. He reached as if to cup his daughter’s cheek in his hand, then activated a tranquilizer that sent her swooning into Coran’s arms. “Go,” Alfor whispered.

Coran nodded, taking one last look at the man he loved before carrying Allura into the ship. He secured the princess in a seat and then activated the ship, bursting through the bay doors and into the chaos of the invasion.

Through some miracle Coran managed to pilot through the invaders and out into open space. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked sadly back at his planet. 

When Allura awoke, she saw Coran in the pilot’s seat, and endless stars before them.  
“Father!” she cried, looking about the ship.

“Allura,” Coran left his seat and raced to the princess’s side. “Princess, please, don’t strain yourself. The tranquilizer is still in your system.”

“Coran he’s gone,” Allura fell into Coran’s hug, and the two shared a sad embrace for a moment before Allura straightened herself and wiped away her tears. “We must rescue him.”

“There’s no way we could take on all those galra ships with just the two of us and this tiny ship!” Coran said.

“They would have kept my father as a prisoner, he’s a high profile altean so he wouldn’t be killed,” Allura continued. “If we can gather the forces, we should be able to rescue him.”

“We would need an army!” Coran said. 

Suddenly an alarm began ringing from the ship’s console, and the computer alerted the alteans: “unidentified object in range, impact possible”.  
Coran sat back down in the pilot’s seat. “Looks like we’ve entered an asteroid field.”

“The computer takes asteroids into account, it wouldn’t label it as an unknown object,” Allura said.

“The ship’s a bit rattled, go easy on her,” Coran said.

“Wait, Coran, stop what is that?” Allura shouted, pointing beyond one of the many asteroids that twisted and turned through space before them.

“It just looks like some debris,” Coran squinted. “No…it’s pretty large for debris…maybe it’s a damaged galra cruiser?”

“Follow it,” Allura ordered, and Coran piloted the ship around the asteroids towards the black mass amidst them.

“No…” Coran breathed. “It couldn’t be…”

“It is!” Allura found a faint smile coming to her lips. “It’s Voltron. Part of Voltron.”  
The two alteans stared in awe at the enormous black lion that floated before them, almost as if asleep. Its paint was chipped here and there, battle-scarred, and its eyes were dark. 

It only took them minutes to suit up and space walk over to the lion, but it took them a bit longer to figure out how to get into the lion.  
“Is there some kind of door?” Coran asked over the com, pressing his hands to the side of the lion.

“I don’t know,” Allura said. She was at the front of the lion, staring into its eyes. “It feels like…like its calling to me.”  
Allura closed her eyes and put her hand on the lion’s nose. Her hand looked so small on the giant lion’s face. Suddenly the space around them lit up with a flash from the lion’s eyes. Allura was almost tossed backwards as the black lion opened its mighty jaws and roared. Somehow they could hear it, even in the vacuum of space. 

“It’s telepathic!” Allura beamed. “Just like the stories say! It’s science and magic!”

“Look, we have our door!” Coran floated over to Allura and pointed towards the gaping mouth.

The inside of the lion was dark, lit only by the blue emergency lights. And it was cold, but getting warmer as they walked through it. There was only a hallway, and then a door to the pilot’s chamber. The door was sealed, and cold mist seeped out from under it. Suddenly there was a beep and the doors opened, blasting the alteans with cold air. Allura shielded her face with an arm, and when she lowered it she gasped at the sight of a pilot still alive in the pilot’s chair. 

“Are you alright?” Allura raced to his side. “Hello?”  
The pilot groaned and fell to the side, Allura managed to catch him and they sank to the ground. She cradled him in her arms, his head on her lap. It was a young man with black hair streaked by white, with a scar across his face. His eyelids flickered, then opened to reveal a pair of beautiful eyes. Allura felt her breath catch in her throat.

“Wh…who are you? Where am I?” Shiro breathed. “Where’s the rest of my team? What happened?”

“Calm yourself,” Allura hushed him, holding him tighter. “My name is Allura, I have you it’s okay. It will all be okay now.”


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro seemed to waste no time acclimating to his situation. In fact he wasted so little time that Allura began to worry for him. 

"You've been asleep for thousands of years," she informed him. "It's okay to take a moment to...to mourn."

"There's no time." Shiro said, pressing buttons on the console. "I have to find the other paladins, I have to make sure they're okay they're just kids."

"We'll find them I promise," Allura said. "But there's no need to strain yourself."

"I'll have time for that later," Shiro said. "I'm responsible for them...I need to save them before I think about what happened."

Allura put a hand on Shiro's shoulder. Their eyes met and Shiro felt as if a fraction of the weight on his shoulders vanished. 

"That's very noble of you." Allura said. She truly did admire his leadership. The paladins of Voltron must be just as the legends said. Great warriors who would save them from the tyranny of the galra. "So, how do we find the other paladins?"

"The lions can find each other, they're all linked." Shiro said. "You and Coran can ride along with me, or follow me in the ship if you want. Black will lead us right to them." Shiro gave the wall an affectionate pat.

"I'll take the ship," Coran's voice came through in a buzz over the com. "I know the princess wants to see the lions in action."

"He's right," Allura blushed. "I have always dreamed of being a paladin of Voltron."

"Black seems to like you, so that's all I need to know." Shiro smiled. "You'd probably make a great paladin."

"You don't really know that," Allura chuckled.

"I trust my lion," Shiro said. "And she trusts you. Now come on, let's go find the others."

Without a teleduv in either ship, it took some time to traverse space. They finally made it to a public warp, that sent them far from their original position to the planet that Shiro once called home.

"I can't believe I haven't seen Earth in a thousand years," Shiro said. "It feels like I was just there. I was just there..."

Allura looked at Shiro sadly. When Shiro noticed he straightened up and wiped the grief from his face. "Black says that the blue lion is somewhere on Earth. Makes sense, Lance was always the most homesick. Altea was beautiful and space had tons of amazing sights but nothing could beat his family and his home."

"What was Altea like back then?" Allura asked curiously.

"Amazing," Shiro grinned. "We'd never seen anything like it. Aliens at our doorstep giving us the power to fight evil, and bringing us to this beautiful planet were everything was so advanced and peaceful...it was just amazing."

"Princess, I'm getting readings of thousands of Galra ships!" Coran shouted. "Earth is...overwhelmed by Galra forces!"

"What?" Shiro stood and looked out the lion's eyes. The blue marble he'd once known was gone. Earth was covered in a smog, and even from this far away Shiro could see the purple scars across Earth's face. "No..."

"Can we get past them?" Allura asked.

"It could be tricky...near impossible really..." Coran said. 

"Just stick close, Coran," Shiro said. 

"What are you planning?" Allura asked.

"Something stupid," Allura could see beads of sweat forming on Shiro's forehead. "I'm going to push through...you should go back to your ship and retreat to a safe distance."

"No," Allura said. "I'm staying with you."

"Princess! Your father asked me to keep you safe!" Coran shouted, worry tinging his voice.

"There's nowhere safer than a lion of Voltron!" Allura said triumphantly. "And Shiro will need backup once we land. I'm going with him."

"Then I'm coming too!" Coran said. "Oh quiznak we're all going to die. I'm so sorry Alfor!"

"Let's do this," Shiro said.

Kli'kor had manned the incoming post at Earth for five years now. It was a boring job, no one wanted to come to Earth. It had practically no valuable resources besides slave labor, and there were plenty of slaves in the galaxy anyway. He hadn't seen an incoming ship in months, so it was a given that a giant black lion and an altean ship rocketing through the sky past the guard towers was a bit of a surprise.

"This is watchtower alpha!" Kli'kor gasped into the com. "I just saw...I just saw a giant cat fly by!"

"You on the nunville again?" Gryp chuckled back. "I told you not to drink that altean swill."

"No really! I think it was that thing...that...Voltan thing! The one everyone's always saying Zarkon is after!"

"Look, I know you're bored, but can't you just go bother some humans like the rest of us?" Gryp said. "Call me when there's a real emergency."

Kli'lor cursed. If no one was going to believe him then he'd just activate the alarm and send out the drone ships. They'd make short work of that lion. 

"Shiro, we have attack ships coming up fast," Allura said. 

Shiro didn't answer, he just pulled back on the controls and put the lion into an upward spiral. The lion flipped right over the drones and came up behind them, blasting them with a laser from it's mouth. Some of the ships managed to escape, turning back to attack from the sides. Shiro moved again, and a blade materialized in the lion's jaws. Shiro hacked away at one of the ships, pouncing off another and cleaving the watchtower in half with a single swipe of the jaw-blade. 

"Ha! One for Coran!" Allura heard over the com as Coran blasted a ship.

"Alright stay close now, I'm going down. We're going to lose them in those caves down there," Shiro said. 

"Roger that, paladin!" Coran said.

Allura held tight to the pilot's seat as the black lion went into a nosedive. The drones struggled to keep up, and Coran almost lost them at times too as they rocketed towards the ground. Shiro and Coran pulled up at the last second, unlike several of the drones which smashed into terra firma with an explosion. Then Shiro made a sharp turn and barreled into the caves. Allura breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Coran had managed to follow them.

The black lion made contact with the ground, running on metal paws that cracked the rock beneath them. Its eyes shone through the darkness, and they went on this way for minutes before the path became too narrow for either ship.

"Looks like we'll have to go on foot from here," Coran said. 

"Agreed, let's prepare for the worst," Shiro said. "We don't know if the galra even know the blue lion is here, but we have to assume they do. Let's arm ourselves and be careful."

As the three met up, Allura noticed Shiro lower one of his arms. Suddenly it began to glow with a purple light that illuminated the cave. Shiro held it before him like a weapon.

"Looks like the ship didn't have any weapons on it," Coran sighed. "Suppose I'll have to rely on the girls!" He kissed both of his biceps and posed like a superhero.

"Makes sense. The ship was meant for a quick escape, it's not a military vessel." Allura sighed. 

"Umm...here..." Shiro passed something to Allura. "I don't know if it will work for you but..."

Allura looked at the object in her hands. A black and white handle that looked just like the armor Shiro wore. 

"It's a bayard. It's meant for the black paladin but I usually go with my arm instead anyway," Shiro said. "I don't want you to be unarmed."

"How does it work?" Allura asked. A sudden flash of light answered her question and she gasped as the bayard transformed itself into a whip.

"Princess!" Coran said in awe.

"Good, so it works." Shiro smiled. "I figured since the black lion responded to you, maybe the bayard would too."

"I'm honored," Allura said, giving the whip an experimental flick. "Thank you, paladin."

"Of course, princess," Shiro said. "Now, let's go look for Lance."


	3. Chapter 3

Shiro led the way down the tunnels, and as he did Coran stayed close to Allura. "There's carvings on the walls of lions, we won't have to go far to find blue," he said. He helped Allura and Coran over a rock wall, and then took the lead again. The cave was barely lit by his arm, but the carvings were visible as they walked. Allura marveled at them as they went along.

"I cannot believe the leader of Voltron is right in front of me!" Allura said. "All I've dreamed of, here in a single day."

"Your father would be proud of you for what you've done to help them." Coran replied. He looked sadly at his feet as they walked, and Allura put a hand on his arm.

"We will save him." She said. "Coran the Magnificent, the princess of Altea, and the paladins of Voltron, there's no one that can stand in our way." 

Coran smiled at the young woman he had come to think of as a daughter. He had served Alfor and his family for years, through the death of Allura's mother, through his relationship with Alfor, through Allura's growth and now this. He would do anything to keep this young woman safe, and now here she was comforting him. He was proud of her, and so so worried for her.

"This way," Shiro gestured for them to follow as he squeezed through a tight passageway. "It should be right throug-" Shiro's voice was cut off as the ground gave way under his feet and he tumbled down a steep rock face. 

"Shiro!" Allura jumped after him, followed by Coran. They slid down, screaming, and found themselves in a stream far below where they had been walking. Shiro groaned and rubbed at his neck, and Coran was testing his joints to make sure nothing was broken when Allura cried out. The men looked up to see her staring at a blue lion, laying out on the ground as if asleep.

"Lance!" Shiro shouted, running for the lion. Coran and Allura weren't far behind, but Shiro was still the first one at the door to the pilot's chamber. "Lance!"

The cold mist was still dissipating as Shiro lifted Lance from the floor. Shiro had said that the other paladins were children, but seeing a mere teenager in paladin's armor was different than hearing about it. Allura felt a surge of pity for the child that was about to wake up and realize that life had gone on without him.

"Ugh..." Lance groaned. "My head is killing me...Hunk...you got any painkillers?"

"Lance, Lance wake up," Shiro lifted Lance's head in his hands. 

"Shiro?" Lance's eyes opened slowly. 

"Can you stand?" Shiro asked.

"I mean I rather not," Lance said. "Rather have five more minutes but you are the fearless leader."

Shiro helped Lance to his feet, the blue paladin was unsteady. "Did we win?"

"..." Shiro sighed. "No, we didn't win."

"Where's Keith?" Lance asked, fear in his eyes. "Shiro, is he okay? He was closest to the blast!" 

"I'm sorry...I don't know," Shiro said. "But the two of us survived, it's likely the lions protected everyone else too."

"What about Hunk? And Pidge! God, Shiro Pidge could be dead or all alone out there she's only fifteen!" Lance surged away from Shiro and into the pilot's seat. "We have to find them!"

"Lance," Shiro turned the seat towards him and knelt down to look Lance in the eyes. "We have to talk...something's...something's happened."


	4. Chapter 4

"So...what happened to your ears?" Lance asked. 

"What about my ears?" Allura asked.

"Well, back in my time, alteans had round ears like us," Lance traced the top of his ear with a finger. "Was there like an accident or..."

"Hmph." Allura said.

"Alright team, our best shot is splitting up. We have two lions and a ship, and three more lions to find." Shiro called the four occupants of the altean ship to order. 

"Are we sure splitting up is our best option?" Lance asked. "I mean, we were already split up once. Won't splitting up again just make it easier for the galra to pick us off?"

"It might, but time is of the essence here," Shiro said. "And besides, they haven't seen a lion in thousands of years so we have the element of surprise."

"Yeah...a thousand years..." Lance chuckled nervously. He folded his arms over his chest, each hand gripping an arm tight. 

"Coran and I can take our ship, and you two can take your lions," Allura said. 

"Always happy to help!" Coran twisted the end of his mustache. "Just let me plug the location into the computer and we'll be on our way."

"Lance, you'll go for the yellow lion, I'll take the green, and Coran and Allura can find the red."

"You sure you wanna send some newbies to find Keith?" Lance asked. "He's a lot to handle."

"I think they can take it," Shiro sighed. "Besides, Hunk and Pidge might...panic. They should see some familiar faces. Keith's been trained for the worst so he won't be a problem."

"Right," Lance glowered down at the floor. 

"Then it's settled." Shiro said. "We should go now."

Allura and Coran went to their seats, and Lance went to leave but before he could Shiro grabbed his shoulder.

"Lance...Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"You know me, I'm always okay. I'm not just okay, I'm _fine_." Lance said, drawing out the "i" in fine. 

"You tend to shove this kind of stuff deep inside until it bubbles out later," Shiro said. "A thousand years...you never got to go back and see your fam-"

"I'm fine, Shiro." Lance pushed Shiro's hand off his shoulder. "Can we just get going?"

Shiro gave Lance a tense nod, and they left the ship.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! Please review if you liked! Reviews motivate my sad writer heart

In Lance's opinion, the worst thing about space was how quiet it was.

When you were driving down the road on Earth you could always hear something: birds, engines, horns, music, and more. Flying a lion, your only ambient sound was the soft beeping of the computers.

Lance sighed and took his hands off the controls for a moment to stretch with a soft grunt. "Hey, Blue, how about we kick it with the road trip mix?"

Lance felt the warm growl in his head that came when his lion touched his mind, and then the computer screen in front of him flashed to a playlist. Upbeat music filled the cockpit, and Lance could feel a little of the tension fading away. He tapped his fingers against his leg, shifted in his seat, and looked out the window.

"Blue...you're pretty old right?" he asked.

There was a low growl in reply.

"So you've probably...I mean I know there were some paladins before us, and you had to watch them...die and then move on right?" Lance said. "Like you keep going and everyone you've ever known just...doesn't."

Lance felt a comforting purr in his mind, it filled his body with a telepathic calm. It had taken a long time for Lance and the other paladins to forge such a strong mental bond with their lions, and it was times like these that he felt most grateful for it. As long as he had blue he'd always be okay. 

But that didn't change the fact that he'd woken up from a several thousand year nap to the news that he'd never see his family again. 

"Well, I still have some family left in this timeline," Lance pushed the controls and sent his lion rocketing off towards the coordinates blinking away on his computer screen.

A few hours passed before Lance found himself at the yellow lion's location.

"Thilin? Never heard of this planet." Lance read the computer screen with a frown. "Let's take 'er down blue."

As blue landed, paws crunching on the dirt of the planet, Lance noticed a group of natives rushing towards him before he'd even come to a complete stop. Lance put his helmet on and disembarked from his lion. 

"I come in peace," he said with a grin. He'd always wanted to use that line.

The aliens blinked two sets of black eyes and babbled away in a language that took Lance's translator a moment to work out.

"Step away from the god, heretic!" they seemed to be yelling.

"Step away from the what, what now?" Lance asked. Before he knew what was happening aliens were holding him at spearpoint, pushing him away from his lion. 

"This is not good," Lance gulped.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Allura asked, leaning over Coran and checking the computer display.

"Yes, princess," Coran replied patiently. "We're attuned to the red lion's signature. Should only be a varga more at most."

"Hmm." Allura crossed her arms over her chest and resumed pacing the cabin. Her nervous energy was infectious, and Coran found himself twisting the end of his mustache and tapping his feet. 

"You know I'm certain the old legends said that the paladins were great heroes hardened by many a battle," Allura said. "How many battles could they have gone through at their age? The oldest among them looks no older than me."

"Stories change over time, and lose some of their truth," Coran said. "We're lucky that the paladins are even real."

"What if they can no longer form Voltron?" Allura asked. "What if this is all for nothing? Father is waiting for us."

"We'll save your father," Coran said. "I promise you that."

Their conversation was interrupted by a beeping that brought Allura running back to the controls. She stared at the screen and then out the window in dismay. The red lion was before them, visible just off in the distance. However, so was a large star. 

"The ship can't handle the heat, I'm pulling back," Coran said, yanking on the controls. The ship was already complaining, beeping and showing rising temperatures. 

"How are we supposed to get to it?" Allura pondered. 

"I'd say we don't," Coran tapped away on the controls. "The red lion, and Voltron might be able to handle that heat but not this tin can. I'm sending a message to Shiro to tell him we found the lion. We can wait for him here."

Allura chewed her lower lip. Waiting was not her favorite plan in the world. Especially when what she needed was so close she felt she could touch it. 

"Princess, might I recommend you get some rest? We've been at it for quite some time now." 

"I suppose I could try," Allura sighed. "I'll be quick, and take the next watch."

There were no quarters on the ship, so Allura made do laying on the floor of the storage bay. She stared at the grey ceiling, thinking about the red lion orbiting a burning star. There had to be a way to reach it. She closed her eyes, feeling the memory of the lion in her mind. She stayed like that for a time she could not measure, before suddenly a growl shook the ship and vibrated through her body. 

"Coran! What was that?" Allura shouted as she ran back into the cabin. 

"I can't believe it!" Coran said. "The lion is flying right towards us!"

Allura looked out the window and saw that the red lion was indeed slowly approaching the ship. A faint purr shook in her head, and as she put a hand to her temple she realized she was hearing the red lion speaking to her.

"Coran, go to these coordinates," Allura said, tapping the controls. 

"What?" Coran asked. "What about the lion?"

"She's going there too." Allura said, breathless. How could she have communicated with the red and black lion both? Altean's had not held the power of telepathy for decapheebs.


	7. Chapter 7

The black lion touched down on Mir'la'ki without incident. Shiro disembarked and watched as the lion put up a force field. 

"Makes sense that Pidge would end up here," Shiro said to himself, staring at the endless jungle before him. "Green always was trying to get her to go out more."

Using his hand like a machete, Shiro cut a path through the jungle towards the spot his lion had told him to go to. The roots of the trees almost tripped him several times.   
As he walked he couldn't help but notice that there were trees that looked vaguely terran. The last time they had been on this planet all the leaves had been purple, but now interspersed among them were many shades of green. 

As Shiro looked sadly at the green foliage, his foot caught on something that he thought to be another root. He was surprised when the root suddenly tightened around his leg and sent him flying into the air. His stomach flip flopped, and he barely had time to register that he had been caught in a snare before he was hanging upside down from a tree by his ankle. 

Quickly, he used his core to pull himself up, managing to get a hand around the snare. He looked down to see how far he would be falling if he cut the wire, and gasped at the sight of his captor down below. 

There was someone beneath him, covered in mud wherever skin was visible, which wasn't much. They were wearing a mir'la helmet that had seen better days, and a ripped black jumpsuit. A blaster hung from their hip, and they wore an aged backpack.

"Look, I'm not here to cause any trouble!" Shiro addressed the person. "If you cut me down we can talk, come to an understanding."

The person looked surprised, and idled for awhile looking Shiro up and down. Then they walked over to a nearby tree and cut down the snare. Shiro fell to the ground with a thud and a groan, and as he sat up he rubbed his head feeling for a bruise. 

"Show me your hands!" the person commanded, their voice masked by the helmet's static. They pulled a blaster from their hip and pointed it at Shiro. 

Shiro put his hands up. "I mean you no harm. I'm just here looking for a friend."

"Shut up!" the person yelled. "And stay still."

They approached Shiro, slinging their backpack over to their front and rummaging around in it. They retrieved a small device, and tossed the backpack aside. "Hand."

Shiro held out his prosthetic, assuming it was to be deactivated. 

"No! The other hand!" 

Shiro looked confused, but swapped hands as asked. The person jammed the device over Shiro's finger, and he cried out in surprise as a needle stuck his finger and drew out blood. His captor pulled the device back and looked at it anxiously. A minute passed and then the device beeped. The stranger stared at it for another minute, Shiro couldn't tell what they were looking at. Then the person looked back at Shiro.

"It can't be...this is another trick..."

"I'm not trying to trick you," Shiro said. "Please, I promise you. I just need to find my friend."

There was a moment of silence, then the stranger reached up and removed their helmet. Long brown hair fell out, and Shiro gasped in shock.

"Katie?"

"If this is another trick I'll blast your brains out like all the others," Pidge said, her face fixed in a glare like Shiro had never seen. She looked older, not by much, a year at most, and she looked thin and worn and angry. Her eyes darted about like a scared stray cat, and whenever she looked at Shiro he saw distrust in them too.

"What happened to you?" he asked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments motivate writers friends ^^

Lance was pretty sure he was tied up in front of some fire. There was a bag over his head, but he could still feel the heat, and smell the smoke. He struggled against the knots around his wrists, but only managed to bang them into the pole he was tied to. He could hear the aliens talking, shouting, some sounded like they were singing.

"Silence!" a strong voice commanded, and all the other voices stopped. "We must now decide the fate of the one who rode the new god into our lands!"

There was some cheering, some hissing which Lance interpreted as booing, and then the voice called for silence again. 

"Our spiritual leaders have discussed the matter, and decided that the stranger is either a demon trying to harm our god, or an agent of the god come to bring us good fortune!"

Lance began nodding furiously. "Oh definitely that second one, good fortune all around. You wouldn't wanna tie up the blue god's best friend would ya?"

"We have not yet decided the truth of this matter!" the voice said. "There is only one way to find the truth!"

Suddenly all the attending aliens began to chant, and Lance heard thudding noises that he assumed was them bowing over and over again. Some began to sing, a strange lilting tune that then dove into notes too low for human voices to replicate. The ground began to rumble, and Lance heard some of the aliens grunting strenuously as if pulling something very large.

"Solaris, feline god of yellow sun!" the strong voice said. "We ask you to judge this stranger, is he friend or foe?"

The bag was ripped off Lance's head, and as he blinked his eyes against the sudden light he realized that glittering in the sun was the familiar face of the yellow lion.

"Hunk!" Lance yelled. "Hunk can you hear me?"

The aliens ceased their repetitive bowing, and knelt on the ground looking up expectantly at the yellow lion. For a moment nothing happened, then the lion stretched forward and opened it's mouth. 

"The god moves!" one alien shouted. They all gasped in awe and reached their hands up to the lion. 

Steam fell from the lion's mouth, and a figure stumbled through it. As the fog cleared, the impressive figure stood tall in yellow and white paladin's armor.

"Oh god I'm gonna be sick, I think Zarkon kicked me across the galaxy," Hunk groaned, bending over and dry-heaving. 

"There is another stranger!" one of the aliens roared.

"They breed! They defile our gods! We must kill them!" another shouted.

There was a resounding call for blood as Hunk straightened up and examined his surroundings. "Where am I?"

"Hunk! Buddy! Help me out over here!" Lance shouted.

"Lance!" Hunk ran over, no questions asked and began untying Lance.

The aliens surrounded them, weapons at the ready. 

"Get back in your lion, quick," Lance said. "I'll go find blue."

"What? I'm not leaving you alone out here," Hunk said. 

"I have to find bl-" Lance's words were cut off as Hunk grabbed him and pulled him out of the way of a thrown spear. Hunk tossed Lance over his shoulder and made a dash for the yellow lion.

"We can find blue from inside yellow where it's safe," Hunk said.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I love being held," Lance smirked.

"I don't think you ever stop mentioning it," Hunk groaned.


	9. Chapter 9

Shiro watched Pidge pace back and forth across the mossy cave floor. She hadn't quite led him here so much as march him here with a hand on her blaster. 

Thick vines curled over the mouth of the cave, letting in little sunlight. From what light did come in, Shiro could see the furrows in Pidge's brow, how her jaw was set tight. 

"What happened?" Shiro asked. "Where's your lion?"

Pidge gave him a fierce look, then sighed. She gestured for Shiro to follow and made her way deeper into the cave. As the cave got darker Shiro used the light from his hand to navigate. Pidge seemed to do fine without, as if she had every stalagmite memorized. Suddenly, the darkness vanished as they exited into a large chamber with a hole in the roof through which sunlight and flying birds were visible. 

Shiro gasped. The green lion was laying sprawled across the cave floor, covered in plant growth.

"It doesn't work anymore," Pidge said. "I tried everything to fix her...it...but it won't turn on."

"Pidge..." Shiro breathed. "I'm so sorry."

"You really aren't one of them, are you?" Pidge said. "They never apologize."

"Who are you talking about?" Shiro asked.

"You'll see them sooner or later," Pidge said. "I mean, if you're staying I guess."

"I'm not going to leave you here," Shiro put a hand on Pidge's shoulder. It wasn't lost on him that she seemed to lean into the friendly gesture.

"Well I figure we can't leave without the green lion right?" Pidge asked. "I mean, if we even still need voltron."

Shiro opened his mouth to speak, then closed it as he heard a scuttling noise behind him. He turned around, seeing nothing but water dripping down the stone wall. Then the noise was behind him again, and suddenly he felt a piercing pain in the back of his neck. 

"Go away!" Pidge yelled, drawing her blaster. Shiro couldn't see who she was yelling at, his vision was swimming and his head felt like it was going to explode. He heard the blaster go off several times, and something screeching, then his vision cleared and he gasped when he found himself face to face with...

...Matt Holt.

"What happened, Shiro?" Matt asked. "You left for your big space adventure, I waited for you. Did you run away? You let us all die. We died slaves of the galra!" Matt was screaming now, his face twisted with rage.

"I was alone for so long," it was Pidge now. Well, a Pidge. This one was still in her paladin armor, her hair cropped short. "I was alone and no one came for me," she sobbed, rubbing at her eyes.

"You failed us, what kind of leader are you?" four voices said in unison, and Shiro whipped around to see Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk all staring at him through black eyes as blood ran from their foreheads and throats. 

"AHHHH!" Shiro screamed wordlessly, animalistically, and ran at the visions with his hand burning.


	10. Chapter 10

The red lion led them to a small planetoid with few features, but an oxygenated atmosphere regardless. When it landed, it landed in a crouch and opened it's mouth to Allura. 

"Coran...I can hear it talking to me," Allura said. "Like with the black lion."

"The stories say that the lions were created by the royal family of Altea, perhaps you have some sort of link with them," Coran mused, stroking his chin. "Alteans were once telepathic after all."

"Well that is a matter for later, come, we must see if the red paladin is alright," Allura said, heading for the lion. 

The inside of the lion seemed warm, as if it had soaked up heat from the star. Allura tip-toed as if she was afraid of waking something slumbering within. As she stepped into the pilot's chamber she saw that the red paladin was in fact still asleep.

"Keith?" Allura asked as she touched the paladin's shoulder. Suddenly he was awake, and throwing himself from the chair, drawing a distinctly galran knife. "Keith! Shiro sent us!" Allura said, putting her hands in the air to show she meant no harm.

"Shiro?" Keith tilted his head curiously and slowly lowered his knife. Finally, he sheathed it and removed his helmet. 

There was a scar running from the right side of Keith's forehead diagonally down to the left side of his chin. When he opened his eyes, they were a deep purple, and that wasn't all. His shoulder length hair was a dark almost black purple.

"You're galra!" Allura gasped.

"Half galra," Keith corrected her with a frown. He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh and it slowly faded to a more human looking black. "I try to keep people from knowing that. Freaks them out, you know?"

"Yes...I can imagine..." Allura said.

"So, why did Shiro send you?" Keith asked.


	11. Chapter 11

"You know, ancient alien theory seemed a lot more fun when it was on the history channel," Lance winced, pulling a blowdart out of the black jumpsuit under the harder parts of his armor. 

"I can't believe I was a god! Well, yellow was a god," Hunk said. "It's nice to be appreciated."

"They tried to kill us, Hunk," Lance reminded him.

"Well yeah, but only because they thought we were defiling their gods." Hunk replied.

Lance watched the yellow lion from the window as it flew just in front of blue. He could see that Hunk was flying in a pattern that moved him around the blue lion, providing it a shield from all sides. He smiled.

"I know I was unconscious for all those years, but somehow I still missed you, buddy." Lance said.

"Awww, I missed you too, Lance."

They flew in silence for awhile before Hunk spoke over the coms again.

"So...do you want to talk about it?"

"I mean...I guess I should." Lance sighed. "And if I could talk to anyone, it would be you."

"I know how much you were looking forward to see your family again, it must be so hard for you to find out that you won't be able to," Hunk said.

"What about you? You lost family too," Lance said. 

"I did, and I'm sad about it," Hunk said. "But since I can't change it...the best I can do is talk with you about it and try to help us both feel better."

"I can't believe I'll never get another hug from my mom..." Lance muttered. "I promised my little cousin I'd teach her how to ride a bike. I said I'd visit for Christmas..." Lance's words choked off into a sob, and he realized he'd already removed his helmet and started covering his eyes. Hot tears leaked through his fingers, and his body shuddered.

"Lance..." Hunk said. "Land on that moon over there, I'm coming over."

When the lions landed, Hunk donned his helmet and took a quick low-grav walk over to the blue lion. By the time he got to Lance, he was already curled into a ball in his chair, his legs pulled up against his chest. Hunk took off his helmet and rushed over to Lance, pulling him from the chair and into his arms. They curled up on the floor together, Lance sobbing and small silent tears falling from Hunk's eyes as he rubbed Lance's back.

"We'll be here for you, Lance," he said. "We're your family too. We can't replace what you lost but we can be here for you."

"I'll be here for you too Hunk," Lance managed to say through his tears. 

"Hey. Remember that time back at the garrison when your mom sent us those amazing cookies?" Hunk said. "And I wanted to say thank you by making her my grandma's white chocolate macadamia nut cookies?"

"And I mixed up the sugar and salt and they tasted horrible?" Lance chuckled slightly. "What about that time your uncle knitted you that sweater?"

"It was so comfy I never wanted to take it off!" Hunk said. "And I lent it to you one time and suddenly we had a custody battle over it!"

"And I would slip inside it while you were wearing it and we ended up stretching it out cause we would wear it together all the time." Lance laughed.

"Yeah, good times," Hunk sighed. 

"I'm glad you're here, Hunk," Lance sighed, nestling into Hunk's chest and stomach. He was warm and soft, he felt like home. So many nights him and Keith would curl up in Hunk's bed like this. 

"We should get going," Lance said. "They've probably found the others by now, and I bet Keith and Pidge need some Hunk hugs too."

"Always happy to dish out my magic hugs." Hunk beamed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know I didn't even realize I split up the lion searching teams the way they were in the show? Writing is all looking back and saying "ah I meant to do that!"

Shiro was panting, his arms hanging loose at his sides. He was vaguely aware of Pidge in the corner of his vision, her blaster no longer in her hands but a jagged rock knife instead. Littering the ground by Shiro's feet were bloodied green creatures with multiple limbs and rows of fangs. Shiro looked at his hands, and looked at the green blood on them. He could have sworn he'd been beating...no, it was a trick. He hadn't killed his friends.

"So, these are the things you were talking about." Shiro said.

"They're the ones that woke me up," Pidge said. "About a year ago if I've counted right and this planet's days are as long as Earth's...I felt something bite me and then before I knew it they were everywhere."

"How long have they been hunting you? The whole time?" Shiro asked. Pidge didn't answer, but that was an answer in itself. "And you had to kill them while they looked like...us?"

"You, the other paladins, my parents, my brother," Pidge said. "The first time, I was so happy. I saw you and the others, you said you'd found me after that big battle with Zarkon, and you were going to take me home. That Zarkon was dead and we were safe. They led me through the woods, I didn't even question why we were leaving the green lion, I was just so happy to see you guys alive."

Pidge kicked at one of the corpses, and sniffed slightly. "They took me to their nest. That's when I realized what was going on. The Lance duplicate tried to bite me, so I fought back. After awhile they figured out that enticing me wasn't going to work, so they started trying to scare me to the nest. They would show up screaming at me, saying I was a failure, and worse. Sometimes they'd just attack without saying anything. They're persistent."

Suddenly Pidge found herself squeezed up against Shiro's chest in the most protective fatherly bear hug she'd ever received. "Let's get out of here," Shiro said.

"...yeah," Pidge agreed. 

As they walked back to the black lion, Pidge and Shiro planned for how they would get the green lion back to safety and see if they could get it running again. 

"Is the castle still around?" Pidge asked. 

"I don't know," Shiro answered. "Until we find out, we'll have to find a safe planet to lay low."

"And this Allura, she's like what...Queen Fala's great great great....she's her descendant." Pidge said. 

"I would think so," Shiro said. "She even kinda looks a little like her. I mean her hair is longer, and her ears are pointed. She's definitely just as sure of herself, and dedicated. And she seems really brave."

"Wow, are your star signs compatible too?" Pidge smirked.

"What?" Shiro blushed. "I just met her!"

"Well whoever this girl is, she just gave me my first joke in a year. So I like her," Pidge chuckled.

"We're here," Shiro said, pulling aside a leaf bigger than his face. The black lion was still sitting with its shield up, and as Shiro approached that didn't change. "What?" Shiro tapped the force field, looking at the lion with concern. 

"Oh no..." Pidge said. "It happened to you too..."

"The black lion isn't responding to me," Shiro said, his voice shaking.


	13. Chapter 13

"I really miss the castle," Lance sighed.

He and Hunk were currently trying their best not to sink into the swampy ground of the rendezvous planet. The place reminded Lance of where Yoda lived, complete with weird animals and smelly mud. Even the lions seemed to not like the place, they were standing on their toes with their force fields up.

"Oh, hey I see them!" Hunk cheered, pointing up into the sky. Lance followed his finger and sure enough an altean ship and the red lion of voltron were slowly descending towards them. Both of them were tangled in vines that snapped and groaned as the lion and ship struggled through the thick foliage and onto the marshy ground. Lance felt butterflies erupting in his stomach, he swore he was going to be sick. Even if it had only felt like a few hours since he was knocked out and woken up, suddenly now he realized he was going to be seeing Keith for the first time in thousands of years. 

The red lion knelt down and opened its mouth, and out walked a thin boy in red armor. He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'd recognize that mullet anywhere," Lance breathed with a faint grin.

"Lance," Keith beamed back, and Lance was running at him, pulling Keith up off his feet and swinging him around before pressing a hurried clumsy kiss to his lips. 

"Keith!" Hunk barreled into the two of them, picking them both up in the tightest bear hug they'd ever known. Keith was laughing so hard, and it sounded like sunshine. Lance and Hunk were soon laughing too, and all three paladins collapsed into a happy hugging pile on the ground.

Allura smiled at the scene. Then she frowned as she looked back up at the red lion. 

"Where's Shiro?" Keith asked, once the laughter had faded. 

"He...he didn't meet up with you guys?" Lance asked.

"These guys said they were bringing me to him," Keith jerked a thumb in the alteans' direction.

"Shiro hasn't returned yet?" Allura asked. "We have to find him. Coran, can you track the green and black lions?"

"Already on it, princess," Coran said, mustache practically twitching with excited energy as he ran back to the ship. 

"Guess we have one last rescue to make before we're all back together," Keith said. "Let's get to our lions, and stay close. I'm not losing anyone today."

"Yes, commander," Lance rolled his eyes with a chuckle, and gave Keith a quick kiss on the cheek before running back to blue.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry bout the gaps between updates I've been losing steam working thirteen hour shifts and doing classes and Adventure Zone has been the hyperfocus of my life lately. Comment to energize the writer lmao.
> 
> Just a short update today, hopefully I will be back to my usual soon

The good news was they were able to track the black and green lions easily to a vine covered planet in the middle of nowhere.

The bad news was there was no sign of Pidge or Shiro.

"Shiro! Pidge!" Lance cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. 

"Why would they leave their lions for so long?" Keith wondered aloud, looking up at the lions which had unshielded themselves once the paladins arrived. "They shouldn't be so far away they can't hear us."

Allura put a hand on the black lion, feeling the cold metal against her skin. It felt as though it was rumbling softly, and for a moment she could feel a spike of anxiety rolling off of it. Suddenly, the bushes behind her rustled loudly, and as she whipped her head around she swore she saw something green moving quickly out of the corner of her eye.

"I think we should keep moving," Allura said.

"Yeah, I'm getting eaten alive here," Lance agreed, slapping a mosquito that had just landed on his neck.

The paladins and the two alteans wandered through the thick jungle, slicing away at vines with bayards and wiping sweat from their foreheads. The humidity had gotten so intense that their moods soon followed. They walked in sullen silence, pausing for a few minutes to remove some layers of armor for some relief from the heat. Allura and Keith put their hair up in buns, and Coran fetched some water from a nearby spring.

"Hey, I found something!" 

Everyone lifted their heads at Lance's cry, and they ran after him up a ways to where he was crouching over a black helmet.

"That's Shiro's," Keith breathed, grabbing the helmet. Fear turned him cold as he looked at the abandoned helmet. "We have to find them."


	15. Chapter 15

Hey guys, so I've stopped writing this. It's been a long time since I started this and I've long since forgotten where I was going with it, I'm also not really involved with the Voltron fanbase anymore which I'm sure some of you can relate to. Luckily the good news is this fic has been adopted! Buzzybee10/Buzzybee100 on tumblr approached me and asked if they could give the fic an ending and some tweaks here and there. I've given them permission to go ahead and wrap things up, so if you want more go check them out! 

Thanks for your readership guys, I'm sorry I didn't see it through till the end. If you're looking for fic of a different fandom feel free to check my page and see what I'm up to. Thanks again!


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